And they will occur. It happens to everybody sooner or later. Most bank statements include a worksheet for balancing your account by hand. Give it a try next time you receive your statement, or work through the following exercise. At the very least, check out the “Troubleshooting to Find Discrepancies” section for tips on resolving the problem when your account won’t balance. These tips will help even if you’re a diehard computer reconciler. If you’ve never reconciled your checking account, or if you used to but it’s been a while, now is the perfect time to start fresh. Find your most recent account statement and use its opening balance and the transactions listed on it to begin your new reconciliation system. You’ll need list
Your most recent bank statement Registers for your checking account(s) and receipts or notes on unrecorded transactions Paper and pencil A calculator
This is why you can’t count on the bank’s rendering of your account balance to be accurate. The balance printed on your ATM slips, shown in your account record on the bank’s Web site, or given to you by the automated phone system or even a live teller is based only on transactions that have cleared the bank: The bank has no knowledge of checks you’ve written that the recipient has not yet cashed. So, the best the bank can do is to tell you your cleared balance useful information, but not enough to know whether you can take out $20 at the ATM without causing a check to bounce. Only you have all of the information to calculate your actual, up-to-the-minute balance. To get ready to balance your account by hand, gather the equipment, records, and supplies in the You’ll Need list that accompanies this section of the chapter, and prepare to reconcile. The Basic Steps With your materials ready, follow these steps to reconcile your bank account: Reconciling Your Account Balance Step 1 - Step 2 + Step 3 = your current balance. This figure should match the balance shown in your check register.
